The Secret
by rosenymphadoraweasley
Summary: In Minerva McGonagall's sixth year, her life will be changed forever. Follow her memories and read as her life and heart spins out of control.
1. Chapter 1

**_Summary: Minerva McGonagall has a dark secret; one she took to the grave. It is now time to delve into the memories of the late professor. Follow me to the depths of the Department of Mysteries and discover what the wise witch kept a secret all of her life._**

* * *

_November 5th, 2030._

She sat in the middle of the room. People all around her were crying and mourning the loss of one of the bravest, most intelligent witches in history. Minerva McGonagall was dead. She had been getting on in her years; a nice age of 105. She had died two days ago of old age. The woman watched as the frail body was put into the coffin. A single tear rolled down her eye slowly and she didn't bother to wipe it away. She clutched the note in her hand tightly, glancing at it every so often throughout the ceremony. When the ceremony was over, she left quietly and hurried to the Ministry. She got to the elevator inside the Ministry and pressed the lowest level. _Department of Mysteries_, a smooth, clear voice said as she departed the elevator. She strode quickly to the end of the hall and slowly opened the door. She continued at a quick pace inside and went through many doors and halls until she was found the chamber she was looking for. It was an unknown chamber and nobody ever ventured into it except the few ancient Unspeakables. The chamber was unnamed because there was no way to describe it. The few that did know about it just called it, simply, the Unnamed Chamber. The woman walked further into the room until she reached a shelf labelled Those Born in the 1920's. She found Minerva McGonagall's name among the scatter of files and papers on the shelf and pulled out Minerva's file. She slipped the note into the file and waited.

* * *

**Here we are, in the year 1942 in the month of September on the eighth day. This is where our story begins. Welcome to the story of the secret.**

* * *

Minerva McGonagall grabbed her homework and walked swiftly out the door, her four roommates in tow. As she walked, she swept her hair into a tight bun.

"Min, Min, MIN! Wait up!" Evangeline Jones quickened her pace to reach her best friend.

Minerva slowed slightly so that Evangeline fell in step beside her.

"Why are you going so fast?"

"I need to get to Transfiguration early. I have to ask Professor Dumbledore a few questions," Raven haired Minerva replied.

Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Of course, Min, of course."

"Well sorry, Eve. You know Transfiguration is my favourite subject."

They made their way into the Great Hall and walked over to sit at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table. Gwendolyn Bell, Louisa Cattermole, and Rosalind Meadowes joined the table a few moments later.

"Min, slow down!" Louisa exclaimed as she reached for a piece of toast.

"Louisa, you know how she gets when Transfiguration's first thing in the morning."

Louisa sighed and buttered her toast.

"Bloody hell," she murmured as one of her rust coloured locks fell out of the bun it was strapped in and into the butter dish.

"Scourgify." Blonde haired Rosalind said, pointed her wand at Louisa's hair.

"Thanks Rosie," Louisa blushed as she tended back to the toast on her plate.

Minerva suddenly stood up.

"I've got to go. See you girls in Transfiguration,"

A chorus of 'Bye Min! See you soon!' followed her abrupt goodbye.

Minerva raced to the Transfiguration classroom and placed her books down with a sigh. A few moments later, Professor Dumbledore stepped inside the classroom.

"Good morning, Miss McGonagall."

"Good morning, Professor. I have a few questions about last night's homework and I wanted to ask you quickly before class started."

"Alright. Go ahead, Miss McGonagall."

Professor Dumbledore's blue eyes shined behind his half-moon glasses as he listened to Minerva ask her questions. Twenty minutes later, the first few people came into the classroom and Professor Dumbledore put the class lesson onto the board. Evangeline, Gwendolyn, Rosalind, and Louisa sat beside Minerva.

"Are you good now?" Gwendolyn asked Minerva, tossing her strawberry blonde pin straight hair over her shoulder.

"Yes, Gwen. Do shut up."

Gwendolyn gave out a tinkling laugh and nudged Louisa who had already fallen half-asleep at her desk.

Later that day, after dinner, the girls, except Evangeline who was working with Benjamin Finnegan on some last minute Charms homework, were sprawled on their favourite couch.

"Well hello there, ladies." Sandy haired, lanky Lyle Prewett came towards them with red haired, muscular Emerson Spinnet in tow.

"Prewett, Spinnet," Rosalind nodded to both of them as they reached the couch.

"Meadowes," Prewett said, grinning slightly. Gwendolyn looked up from playing with her nails to give Emerson a short nod before going back to her nails.

"What would you boys like?"

"Is it a crime to come and say hi, Min?"

"In your case, yes it is."

"Ouch."

Minerva's mouth went into a thin line and she rolled her eyes.

"Prewett, as much fun as this is, your presence is not needed so please take Spinnet and go elsewhere," Minerva proposed, her tone sharp.

Emerson turned to leave and motioned for Lyle to follow him when Lyle went down on one knee in front of Rosalind and declared, "My dear lady, I will see you again very shortly. Our time runs short as your raven haired friend does not admire my presence." He kissed her swiftly on the hand and stood up. Rosalind blushed slightly but did not say a word.

"Was that really necessary, Prewett?" Gwendolyn asked.

"Quite so, m'lady." He turned to Emerson, " Well, chap, I see we must be off now. Good talking to you."

With that, Lyle and Emerson walked away off in the direction of the stairs to their dormitory.

"He is such a drama king," Louisa said. Rosalind was still slightly red.

Minerva set her piercing stare on Rosalind.

"Do you fancy him, Rosie?"

"Well. Well, yes." Rosalind blushed again and looked down at her shoes.

"I find him to be an insufferable git." Minerva paused for a moment. "But I want you to be happy, Rose."

Gwendolyn rolled her eyes, "She doesn't need your permission, Min."

Minerva's mouth went back into a straight line.

"I realize that, Gwen, I am just stating what I think."

Gwendolyn ignored her and turned to Louisa, who was reading her Charms book.

"Lou, want to come to the library with me quickly?"

"Sure. "

Louisa and Gwendolyn walked across the Common Room and stepped through the portrait hole.

"Do you want to head upstairs?" Rosalind asked.

"Yes. Let's go."

A few minutes after Rosalind and Minerva entered their dormitory, Evangeline bounded in.

"Hi Eve, how did the study date go?" Minerva questioned, lifting her head up from her bed.

"It was not a study date!" Evangeline exclaimed dramatically, waving her hands about as she sat on her bed.

"Eve, he fancies you. It's so obvious." Rosalind countered.

"Well even if he does fancy me, which he does not, I don't fancy him. So stuff it."

The next day, the five girls headed down to breakfast late because Louisa's hair was so tangled that it refused to be fixed by magic. She then had to brush it for almost twenty-five minutes until it was normal again. As they got closer to the Great Hall, Minerva noticed a gang of Slytherin boys. They were huddled in a group at the entrance of the Hall. As she got closer, she saw that it was the fifth year boys. Riddle, it seemed, was doing most of the talking. The boys around him were Raginwald Lestrange, Ted Rosier, Nathan Avery, and Antonin Dolohov.

Minerva didn't realize she was staring until Dolohov shouted out, "Oi Blood Traitor! You have no right to look over here!"

The group minus Riddle laughed heartily and Lestrange even turned to sneer at her.

"Detention for foul language, Dolohov." Mineva retorted.

Another round of raucous laughter went around the group besides Riddle whose face still remained expressionless. Without another word, Minerva followed her friends inside the Great Hall. If she had looked behind her, she would have seen Tom Riddle staring at her.


	2. Chapter 2

_**The perplexity of Hogwarts has never ceased to amaze the pupils and the teachers over the years. Most of the students will never discover even a quarter of the castle's inscrutableness. They will pass through the school over the course of the seven years and stay focused on learning. There are very few to the exception of that. In the course of the years since its founding, a total of ten students have found out a quarter of the castle's mysteries, if not more. These students have gone to great lengths to question and figure out the secrets of the castle. Tom Mar**__**volo Riddle was one of them.**_

* * *

Walburga Black sighed heavily as she looked in the mirror at the mess she had created. After last night's break up with her two year beau, Lawson Flint, she had resorted to cutting off half of her shiny chestnut brown straight hair. She had skipped Transfiguration and was in bed with piles of old Witch Weeklys trying to figure out ways to fix her hair. Frustrated, she threw the last Witch Weekly onto the floor.

"Incendio," she muttered, pointing her wand at the useless magazine. She watched as the fire burned up the magazine whose cover proclaimed "Top Ten Ways To Get The Wizard of Your Dreams," and "Three Simple Steps To Getting The Perfect Hair Colour". After the fire had burned up most of the magazine, she quickly used Aguamenti and the fire was extinguished after a few shots at it. Sighing heavily, she got up from her bed and tried to pull her messily chopped hair into a bun. It looked disastrous but there was nothing she could do and being late for Double Potions did not appease her. She grabbed her Potions things and ran as fast as her thin legs could carry her to the Potions classroom. She knew that the Potions classroom was close as it was in the dungeons as well but she still wanted to be there soon.

"WALBURGA, WHERE HAVE YOUBEEN AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR HAIR?" a voice yelled behind her. She whipped around to see her best friend, Agatha Pucey, come towards her.

"I was hiding out in the dorm because I ," Walburga mumbled.

"I think you should say that faster," Aggie said sarcastically. "Try again, Burga."

"I was hiding out in the dorm because I cut my hair into terrible shreds because Lawson and I broke up,"

Agatha almost looked sympathetic. Almost. Agatha did not get sympathetic. It did not happen.

"That's why you were so upset last night," Aggie said more softly than usual, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was in denial. Can we talk about this later?"

Agatha nodded and just as they walked into the classroom, they heard a yelp. The girls turned around and saw Lawson's face covered in boils.

"Oops," Aggie smirked. Walburga giggled softly and followed her to their regular spot.

* * *

Alphard Black was not in a good mood. He had not been in a good mood since half four when he woke up and he was not in a good mood now. The only smile that appeared on his thin, gaunt face that morning was when he saw Flint's face covered in boils before Double Potions. Although Flint was his friend, Alphard did not admire the way Lawson split up with his sister last night. The reason that Alphard was not in a good mood in the first place was the fact that he had been rejected by Isadora Higgs yet again. He had declared himself in love with her in second year and had asked her out plenty of times since then but she would not budge. He sighed heavily and picked at his steak and kidney pudding. Finally finishing his pudding, he grabbed a chocolate éclair and started on that.

"Mate, you've got to get over her. It's been four years!" Llewellyn Burke exclaimed.

"I know. I know." Alphard sighed again. "I'm going to go grab my stuff from the dormitory. I'll see you lot later."

Alphard's four dorm mates nodded their goodbye (Alphard ignored Lawson) and he walked off in the direction of the dungeons. He was just rounding the corner around the Main Staircase when he crashed into someone.

"OUCH!" A high pitched voice shrieked. Alphard looked down to see Evangeline Jones sprawled out on the ground.

"Watch where you're going, Black!" The Gryffindor girl exclaimed.

"Sorry, Jones." He sneered. "I'm not one to look out for Gryffindors."

"Whatever, Black. Just leave me alone."

"Fine with me."

Evangeline stormed off, her dark brown curly hair bouncing up and down as she walked. Alphard smirked. Gryffindors were so easy to anger. He continued onto his dormitory in a much better mood than he had been in all day.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was a proper young woman. She had been brought up by strict parents and was a firm stickler for the rules. Since she was a first year, she strived to work hard and maintained a good demeanour especially around teachers. So it was no surprise when she was made a Prefect last year along with Finley Brown. She took her Prefect duties way too seriously and sometimes even took over other people's Prefect duties when even the Heads could not. Minerva was well known for her wit, intelligence, charisma, and severe sharpness at times. She was friendly with the majority of her own House as well as a large number of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. She treasured her friends every single day and if anything were to happen to them she would not know what to do.

Minerva sat at the Gryffindor table slowly eating her pork chops and mash. She had felt a touch of uneasiness all day. Riddle's unsmiling face had been appearing in her mind all day and she did not know why.

"Rubbish. It's all rubbish." She murmured softly. "I'm going bloody mad thinking about this."

"What was that, Min?" Gwendolyn questioned, a confused look appearing on her face.

"Oh nothing, Gwen. Don't worry about it."

Gwendolyn raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever you say, Min." She responded.

Minerva didn't answer and went back to her pork chops. Once she was done, she pushed them away slowly and left without another word to the others. Evangeline shot her a confused look but Minerva ignored it and kept walking. Riddle had never affected her like this before. She had always thought of him as cold and yet he was quite popular. Truthfully, he was quite handsome but that did not mean a thing and Minerva was definitely not one to like a person based on their appearance. Min reached up and fixed the loose strands that were falling out of her bun. She was so intent on getting Riddle's face out of her mind that she didn't realize where her feet were leading her. When things started to become slightly unfamiliar around her, she looked up and saw that she had managed to go all the way up to the fifth floor on the west side of the school. Feeling slightly dazed, she noticed a staircase leading to a door with no keyhole or doorknob. Instead, there was a bronze knocker shaped like an eagle on the door. Min's eyes widened as she realized that this was probably the entrance to the Ravenclaw Tower. With a spark of the Gryffindor boldness inside her, she strode up the stairs, grabbed the knocker, and knocked firmly on the door.

"Like a dragon, fire is breathed out when consumed.

The first part of the name is what you would usually find alongside a condiment rarely used on top of a sweet tooth treat.

The second part of the name is another word for a magical relation of small folk.

What am I?"

Minerva thought for a moment and then replied smoothly, "Why, that's simple. The answer is Pepper Imps!"

The door swung open and Minerva entered slowly. The wide, circular Common Room was vacant considering everyone was still downstairs in the Great Hall. She looked through the arched windows on the other side of the room and saw the beautiful, expansive mountains surrounding the castle. It was a breathtaking sight and Minerva just stood there gazing at them.

"Excuse me, what are you doing in my Common Room?" A voice said from behind her. Minerva clapped a hand to her chest in shock and turned around. A girl with dark lank hair and glasses stood in front of her, an annoyed look spread across her face mangling her already less than decent features. Minerva recognized the girl as Myrtle Langford, a fourth year Ravenclaw.

"I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and ended up here. I saw the door and decided to see what was on the other side. You have such a beautiful view of the mountains here."

"Aren't you that Gryffindor Prefect, Minerva McConcall?"

"McGonagall, actually." Min said crisply.

"Whatever. If you were a better Prefect, you would do something about Olive Hornby. What a horrid girl."

"It has never been brought to my attention before. Is she causing you problems?"

Myrtle nodded and looked at the ground.

"I will ask Patrice Goldstein to help you with this issue."

"Thank you."

Minerva saw that the girl looked ashamed. She put a hand on her shoulder and looked into the girl's face.

"You're very welcome. The Prefects are here for a reason."

Myrtle nodded.

"You should probably leave."

"Yes, that would probably be wise. It was nice meeting you."

"You too."

Minerva walked across the room and swept the door. She managed to get away from the west side of the school before any Ravenclaws became suspicious. She ran up the nearest staircase to the seventh floor and walked around until she found the Fat Lady Portrait.

"Poppysquat." She said to the portrait. It swung open and she walked inside. She walked upstairs to her dormitory quickly and went to go get her things for Herbology, thoughts of Riddle completely gone from her mind.


End file.
